Star Wars: The New Protagonist
by Macho Man Randy Quaid
Summary: Two droids on the run from an evil empire set about a chain of events where average moisture farm girl, Akari Akaza, gets mixed up with an old warrior and two smugglers to save a Princess from an evil dark lord who murdered her family.
1. Text Crawl Prologue

Akari'n~!

"Ai!"

"Star Wars is staring now..."

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*Cue orchestral theme*

STAR WARS

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Series One

The New Protagonist

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It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from their secret base, have just won their first major victory against the evil Space Empire.

During said battle, the Rebel spies managed to steal the plans to the Empire's secret ultimate weapon, THE GIANT GANBOT, an armored space station capable of destroying an entire planet.

Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Chinatsu races home aboard her starship, custodian of the plans that can save her people and restore peace and freedom to the galaxy…


	2. The Chase and Raid

The atmosphere aboard the royal Japanese transport ship was frenetic as the armed troops dashed through the corridors readying themselves for an inevitable boarding. That is if the imperial star destroyer pursuing them didn't destroy them first. The ship changed its route to fly over a nearby, sparsely-populated desert planet, by the princess's command, although they didn't know for what reason. If it was to lose them, then it wasn't working as the star destroyer remained right on top of them, blasting them with everything they got. The ship responded in due force, but it was of no use. Even if the star destroyer had its shields down, their blasts would never have penetrated the thick hull made from corellian metallurgy. The act of shooting back was really more a symbolic gesture than anything, a sort of, "we won't go down without a fight," sort of thing. After all, it was only a convention ship modified slightly for small-scale combat, nothing that could challenge an imperial battleship. However, even this would be taken away from them. The destroyer's turrets concentrated on the back of the ship, near the engines, and with one decisive shot, took them out, leaving the ship and its occupants crippled in orbit far above the barren world below. The reactor's explosion caused a huge tremor that was felt throughout the ship. Both Hima-3P0 and Saku-D2 as the walked aimlessly through the chaotic corridors.

"Did you hear that?" the gold-plated, blue-"haired" droid said to her counterpart.

Beep, bleep, whoo, wheep," Saku-D2 said in her astrotech code, translating to, "Yeah, I did."

"They shot down the main reactor! We'll be destroyed for sure!" The bluenette, big-breasted droid said. The two made way for a platoon of heavily armed rebel troops running by them. "This is madness!" she exclaimed, throwing up her arms.

"Eh…" Saku-D2 replied, "I've been through worse."

"Eh!? No, you certainly have NOT been through worse! You lie!"

"No doubt you're boobs are the cause of all this!"

"Oh, even now you're still you're difficult self, Saku-chan!"

By the entrance, the armed rebel troops awaited patiently for the boarding party. Even now, they were not going to go down without fighting. Hima looked at them as they gathered.

"We're doomed," she said.

"Beep bo beeeeppp," Saku said.

"There'll be no escape for the princess this time!" Hima said coldly. Then, there was the sound of a huge cracking. "What was that?" the golden droid asked. She figured out soon enough that they were caught in a tractor beam. The armed rebel fighters looked around themselves, investigating the noise, mostly to keep their minds off of the certain death they were to face. In a matter of minutes, they were going to find themselves at the mercy of the Empire. Hima wondered if the Empire would disintegrate Saku and herself on sight, or would they be put to service for the imperial military or bureaucracy as confiscated goods. Probably the former - what use would the Empire have for a protocol or astro-tech droid? She imagined all sorts of terrible fates in store.

After the scraping sounds from the exterior subsided, they returned their attention to the front door, awaiting what was to come.. Eventually, the door lit up in a dazzling display of sparks and exploded before them, and in one by one, the ganbotroopers entered; the professional infantrymen of the evil Space Empire. Dressed in beige armor, they wore spherical helmets with black, mirror-shade visors, which aside from concealing their eyes, were designed to help them target their foes. Ready and trained, they came in, rifles blazing, wasting no time trying to overwhelm the rebel force. The rebels lit them up, knowing that they could never stand a chance if they allowed the ganbotroopers to overwhelm them, not that they stood chance, but regardless. Laser bolts flew back and forth down the white shaft, creating blinding flashes of red light that sometimes appeared to envelope the entire hallway. The visors provided the ganbotroops with a distinct advantage here as the light did not blind them or distract their vision, unlike their clear eyed opponents. The rebels managed to take down a few imperials early on, but they just kept coming, and in no time at at all they started to take some casualties. As more and more imperials came in, the rebels were forced to move back and deeper and deeper into the hull of the ship. They were trapped before, and now they were more trapped than ever.

Hima-3P0 and Saku-D2 hid behind a door frame as two fleeing rebel troops ran past them. The rebels stopped and squatted. When the pursuing ganbotroops turned the corner at the end of the corridor, they opened fire. One went down, but the two other ganbo troops avenged their fallen comrade by taking a rebel themselves. More and more, on the polar ends of the corridor, troops came to reinforce their side, turning the passageway into a laser show shooting range. The two droids took a risk and made a quick dash across the hallway to the adjacent door.

"Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!" Hima-3P0 told Saku-D2 as they through the onslaught.

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! I know!" The astrotech droid yelled back. No less than four laser bolt whizzed past the two as they ventured across the firing line, and one exploded the control panel for the door right behind her as soon as they made it to safety; however, the force of the blast did send Hima-3P0 flying over.

"Ahh," she groaned as she picked herself up, "That was close." She looked around to see that she was talking to no one. Saku-D2 had absconded off somewhere, hopefully because she didn't see her fall, but it wasn't unlikely that she did and left anyway. "That droid!" Hima scowled her, as she went off to find her. 

With the rebels now retreating right where they wanted them, the entranceway was secure. And then out of the fog of war, she entered. Breathing loudly through her face mask, she assessed the situation. She flipped her purple cape from side-to-side to as she looked down on the dead troops through her emotionless lenses. She breathed again, and lurched forward into the ship, undaunted. Without any need to indicate, her troops followed her instinctively. She walked weaponless. She only used her weapon for worthy opponents.

Hima-3P0 walked further down the dark corridor, still looking for her fellow droid. 'She always manages to pick the worst times to get herself lost! Oh, I hope she didn't get herself caught by the boarding party...or worse,' she said, imagining her friend being disintegrated by an imperial blaster. 'No,' she said to herself, 'I wouldn't be so lucky.'

"This is our only chance!" the mysterious woman you all obviously know is, but I still won't reveal until later, said. She handed Saku-D-2 a holotape and slid it into her disc drive, which sounds vaguely sexual I know, but if you shipped them, you would be very wrong.

She walked into a new corridor, unlike the rest. Here the emergency power did not restore the main lighting fixtures, and so the room was barely illuminated by red floor lights and some wall panels. The exchange of laser fire from other parts of the ship could still be faintly heard and occasionally, rebel troops would rush hurriedly past the entranceway. "Saku," she shouted again, concerned, but also a little irritated."Saku-D2, where are you?" Hima-3P0 spotted her droid friend at the end of the corridor with her mysterious client. 'Eh?" she thought. 'Who is that mysterious human? Even though I am a protocol droid on the princess's ship, I don't know if that is the princess or not, and will continue to assume she isn't. But seriously, what is up with, Saku with that human? Is she a secret lover? I mean, I heard of human-droid love, but I've never actually seen it.' Again, she Hima-3P0 is very wrong. Don't ship this pairing. This is Star Wars, you all know it doesn't happen.

'Well, she better not be Saku-D2's lover because then this pinkette bitch will be begging the Empire to take her away.

"Do you understand?" the pinkette mysterious not-the-princess woman asked the droid. Saku bleeped in the affirmative. And with that, Hima watched as the mysterious passenger turned around and and receded down the dark corridor. Saku, now with her holotape stored safely inside her, rolled in the opposite direction toward her friend.

"At last, Saku!" Hima exclaimed, "There you are! Where have you been!" Saku-D2 revolved her blondish-colored head to face her fellow droid. "They're heading in this direction! What are we going to do?" Hima continued, "We'll be sent to the droid factors on Genosa, have our genders switched against our will! Turned into yaoi schoolboy droids to the lust of stupid yaoi fangirls!"

"Ugh! Hima-chan!" Saku said, "I have something very important to do, so can you do me a favor that might help?"

"What? At a time like this? Well, if it'll help out, sure!"

"Good, listen," Saku said, "Stay here and get blasted by the Ganbotroops as I head to the escape pods!"

"What?" Hima kicked her trashcan friend as she drove off chuckling to herself.

"Ow!" Saku said, "Kicking still hurts even if I'm made of metal, don't do that!"

"Well, don't make jokes like that! Especially at a time like this!" Hima said, going after her.

"Who's joking?" Saku laughed again, but not for long, as Hima returned it with a swift metal kick. "Ow! Seriously, stop!"

The ganbotroops checked the computer rooms and found nothing. Walking through the corridors, past the rows and rows of captured rebels and droids being escorted to the star destroyer, for interrogation and death, they entered the control room to report the bad news.

The cloaked woman breathed heavily, perhaps even more heavily to further taunt the choking rebel. Surrounding them, the troops watched in awe as their leader lifted the passenger up a good yard off the ground it seemed with her barehands, clutching her tightly by the throat. The rebel girl's feet swayed helplessly as she dangled under the evil witch's power. Still clutching her, she looked away from her and toward the reporting troop

"The Giant Ganbot plans are not in the main computer," he reported.

With that, the towering sorceress returned her blank gaze back to the rebel. "Where are those transmissions that you intercepted?" her neck began to crack under the strain, "What have you done with those plans?"

Struggling even for breathe, she tried to talk. The masked woman eased up on some of the pressure so that she could string together some articulate syllables. "Errgggaahhh," she said, "We intercepted no transmissions! Errggggaahhhh. This is a convention ship! urrrghhhhh. We're on an economic mission!"

"If this is a convention ship," she asked as the tightened his throat with her mind, "then where ARE the new mangas?" But in her rage and impatience, she choked her too hard and with a snapping sound, the rebel girl was clearly dead. The corpse being of no use, the darkly-clad woman threw the refuse against the wall and the body limply twisted down to the metal floor.

"Commander!" The troops all snapped to attention as she declared her order, "Tear this ship apart until you find me those plans! And bring me the passengers, I want them ALIVE!" She flipped her cape as she left the room, and the troops went about following their orders, combing the ship for anyone who survived the initial onslaught.

Walking through the back channels of the ship, the troops made sure to investigate extra diligently as the lighting was low. It was in this room that the mysterious passenger from before waited. With her personal side arm loaded and primed, she hide herself behind a wall panel and waited for the right time to strike at the approaching troops. 'It's a narrow corridor,' she thought, 'so they can't really rush me. I might be able to get away from them.'

But there was no time to form a plan. "Look!" the forefront trooper said as she spotted her, "There's one. Set for stun." She revealed herself and popped a shot at him, hitting him in the center of his armor plate. The blast was powerful enough to penetrate it and the soldier fell dead instantly into the arms of one of his brothers behind him. Hoping to capitalize off of the distraction, the pinkette girl turned to flee. But one of the troops stepped forward and fired a bluish beam from his gun, hitting her. She fell down instantly, only semi-awake and unable to move. The troops stepped forward to examine their catch.

"She's breathing," one of the troops said, "Inform Lord Saiscon we have a prisoner."

"Hey!" Hima chased toward Saku as she climbed up on the steel supporting steps, "You weren't being serious, were you? You're not permitted in there; it's forbidden, Saku-chan!"

"Um, Hima-chan," Saku said, as she broke the electronic lock and raised the barrier into the pod. "We're about to become prisoners of the Empire and these are the only means of escape! Do you want to stay here and get killed?"

"Well, I know! But still, it goes against my programming for protocol. Oh, maybe I can just ask someone if it's okay real quick, and come back!"" she looked around.

"Blam!" A laser bolt hit the column nearest her, exploding at a spot just above her head. "Hey!" he heard a trooper shout, "Remember, Lord Saiscon wants passengers alive!"

"Right, sorry."

"I'll get permission later!" Hima said as she quickly crouched down and stepped into the pod. "I'm sure they'll understand if I tell them nicely. I mean, I have to do it to survive, right?"

"Hima-chan, on second thought, really do get out, please, and get captured by the Empire." 

But there was no time for Hima-3P0 to change her mind, even if she wanted to. The pod ejected and the two droids watched as the entire scope of the ship came into their window view. No sooner, did the entire star destroyer encompass their space and in no time at all became a small blip on their screen. It was actually a beautiful experience in an odd sort of way.

"Everything looks so small from out here," Hima said.

Saku nodded, "Yes, because we're getting further away,so our perspective is greater."

"Hmm," Hima nodded, actually rather impressed by the provocative philosophical statement from her friend. "That's actually quite an interesting way to put it, Saku-chan."

"Thanks!" the smaller droid smiled as she nodded, "Yeap, bigger when we're near, smaller when we're farther away."

And then it hit Hima-3P0 what Saku-D2 actually meant. "You...you were talking about the physical depth of field," she said. "What?" Saku asked.

"I meant philosophically, Saku-chan! I know things get smaller when you move away! I meant, like, it's amazing how second ago, we were about to die and we were in peril, and so many of our friends and workmates died, and it all seemed important and perhaps it is, but yet it all happened in just this small blip of space. Even, the Empire's main ship of choice, the gigantic star destroyer, capable of housing an entire army, doesn't even occupy .1% of the universe! That's what I meant.

Hima could here the ship whizzing into the atmosphere, it was so quiet in the pod.

"Oh, well," Saku said, "All that goes without saying. But I think my comment about how things get smaller the farther you get from them is quite insightful, too-"

"Oh, you're such an idiot!"

"Eh!?" Saku said, "What's eating you, busty-tron? What makes what you said better than what I said!" 

"You didn't even understand what I said, did you!" 

"Yes I did!" Saku replied back.

"Oh yeah? What did I say? Repeat it back to me?"

"Um…" Saku said, looking out the window as if the answer would come from space. "You were saying the ship was big and it looks smaller from out here."

"Oh, Madokami, Saku-chan! You're such a nerf-herder idiot! You didn't understand anything!"

And the two droids continued to argue over this, all the way to the surface of the planet below.

Back on the ship, the white-robed passenger had recovered and was able to walk and talk, which was good for her because she wanted to mouth off to the leader of this outfit and she needed to be in prime condition to do so. And given the characteristics of this operation, she had her suspicions as to whom was behind all this, and she's been wanting to tell her off for a long time.

Two troops to her immediate sides and locked in handcuffs, she was escorted back out through the maze of corridors and closer and closer to the entrance, although she didn't have to wait until she was on the Star Destroyer for her suspicions to be confirmed. As they turned one corner, she saw the Empire's most sinister agent, and just as always she did not allow herself to feel daunted.

"Well, if it isn't Darth Saiscon," she addressed her full of righteous indignation, "In your stupid purple hat! In your stupid purple cape! And your stupid black mask! And your stupid red hair bun that comes out of the hat somehow like it's detachable." Saiscon did not feel anything from Chinatsu's princess barrage. She maintained her composure, hands fisted and on the side of her hips. She had all the power here, her captive's petulant insults only stood to affirm that point. "Only you could be so bold," the captive continued. If she hadn't had handcuffs on, she would've pointed straight up at that stupid face of hers. "Well, I hope you know that the Imperial Senate will not stand for this affront! When they find out that you've attacked a ship on official business, then-"

"Oh, don't act so surprised this time, Princess Chinatsu," Darth Saiscon cut her off in her quasi-robotic, but feminine voice. See, it was Princess Chinatsu the whole time! Sure fooled you!

"You weren't on any 'convention' mission this time! Several transmissions were sent to this trip by rebel spies! I want you to tell me what happened to the stolen plans that they sent you."

"What?" Chinatsu replied, "I don't know what you're talking about! I a member of the Imperial Senate returning from a convention mission, heading back to the Planet Japan-"

"YOU are a member of the Otaku Alliance and a traitor! Take her away!" she said loudly as she pointed at her condemningly. The troops did as they were told, and took the captive princess past Lord Saiscon and out of the ship.

One of her officers approached her and walked alongside her, eager to express her anxieties about this mission. Saiscon permitted it.

"Holding her could be risky, Lord," she said, "If word gets out about this altercation, it could generate sympathy for the Rebellion in the Senate."

"I need her alive. She is my only lead to their secret base."

"She'll die before she tells you anything!"

"You let that be my concern. As for now, send a distress signal, and inform the Imperial Senate that all aboard this craft were killed-"

"Lord Saison," another officer came and saluted her, "the battle plans are definitely not aboard this vessel, and no transmissions were made. An escape pod was jettisoned during the infiltration, but no lifeforms were aboard it."

"Then she must've hidden the plans in the escape pod. Saiscon slowly lurched towards the officer, towering above her in stature. The officer did her best not to display her intimidation, but she couldn't resist a small twitch of the mouth. "Send a detachment down to the surface to collect them. See to it personally, commander! There will be no one to stop us this time!" The officer saluted, "Yes, m'am," and left to carry out her orders.


	3. A Desolate Place

Hima-3P0 opened the the escape pod hatch to find a sprawling desert before her. 'This place doesn't look too inviting,' she thought to herself.

"Are we here?" Saku beeped. Hima nodded, "Yes, yes! We're here calm down!" The human droid helped the astrotech droid out of the hatch and onto the hot sand below. Without even really thinking, the pair just started out in one direction away from the pod, their minds overwhelmed by the absurd chain of events that led them to this barren rock, or at least Hima-3P0's mind was pre-occupied with it. As they head out into the desert, she couldn't help but think about it more and more with every step.

"How do we end up in these situations? I mean, honestly!" Saku just rolled beside her quietly as she continued, "We seem to be made to suffer! It's our lot in life!" Hima's joints proved a particularly harrowing obstacle. Having just been in the cold vacuum of space, they were stiff from the freezing temperatures. "Can we rest awhile? My joints are still frozen, Saku."

"Yes, yes," the astrotech beeped in response. She didn't want to say it, but she was still a little shaken up, both physically and a little emotionally by the whole experience, too.

"Ahhhh," Hima moaned as she sat down on a rock. "The simple pleasures of life," she said aloud. With the sun batting down on them, Hima could feel the heat gradually heating up her joints. She scanned the environment, trying to scope out if there were any towns or villages or any sort of place of sentient residence somewhere relatively nearby, but all she could see was an ocean of sandy dunes for miles in each direction, except to the west where she could see some signs of rocky mountains and plateaus.

"What a desolate place this is!" she said as the wind whistled through the dunes creating a haunting, singing like effect. Other than that, it was deadly quiet.

"Okay," Saku said as she began moving off westwardly, "Break time over! This way!"

"Eh?" Hima said as she stood up and walked toward her. "What makes you think there are settlements in that direction?"

"Because I just do, okay?" Saku replied.

"Well, I'm not going that way!" Hima crossed her arms, "It's much too rocky! To the east it is much smoother, Saku!"

"Look, I have to go this way! I have to complete my secret mission!"

"Secret mission!?" Hima exclaimed, "What secret mission!? What are you on about?"

"Um, Hima-chan,I can't tell you, because then it wouldn't be a secret!" Saku said, sticking out her tongue at the droid, or at least she would if she had a humanlike tongue.

"What!? Then, why are you bringing it up?"

"Eh? Because you kept harping on and on for me to tell you about it!"

"I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT IT UNTIL NOW!'

"Hmph!" Saku said, turning away from her, "You're just jealous that I was entrusted with a secret mission because I can keep confidence, and you weren't probably because you would blab about it or because the enemy would find your big-ass robot titties from space!"

"You LITERALLY just told me about it!" Hima yelled in response, but it was no use. Saku-units were all impervious to logic and reason. "Whatever! This whole thing is all your fault!" she pointed at her. "it is your fault we are in this stupid situation in the first place!"

"EH!?" Saku barked back, "I just saved your life from the Imperial troops! Not that I even wanted to!"

"Oh, yeah!? Well, I guess that makes us even for the thousand times I saved you from all that trouble! Well, you know what? I'm done!" Hima-3P0 gestured with her arms. "I'm done helping you out! So, you go that way! You'll be malfunctioning in day's time, you scrap heap!" Him kicked her again.

"Hey! Don't kick me! Fine, you go the other way! I never wanted to be with you anyway!"

"Good!" Hima looked back at her one last time, "Because I never wanted to be with you either!"

"Fine! You would just get in the way with your shiny golden boobs anyway! Let's see if they can get you out of this desert!"

Fine!" Hima yelled one last time as she walked eastward, "But don't let me catch you following me because I WON'T help you!"

Saku watched as her best friend in the galaxy walked off in the opposite direction. She couldn't help but feel a little hurt that her friend who she had been beside so many years would rather wander off to face an uncertain peril in a strange desert than remain here with her, but she pushed those thoughts aside. Hima-3P0 felt the same way, curious that Saku-D2 wasn't following her. It was almost surreal. 'But whatever,' she thought, 'if that ungrateful bucket of bolts wants to die in the desert instead of staying by her best friend, then that's her concern.

"Idiot!" they both thought simultaneously as they veered off in different directions, doing their best to repress the fact that their many misadventures as a team were over and that, in a universe as big as this one, they would probably never see each other ever again.

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 **A/N:**

This is my first A/N on this story and in awhile. So, welcome to the Yuru Yuri retelling of Star Wars. If you read some of my fanfictions already then you would know that I am a big fan of Yuru Yuri, but I am also a fan of Star Wars. A few months ago a new Star Wars movie was released, I'm not sure if you heard about it, but it was fairly big news, and to prepare for the movie's release, I re-watched all of the old movies again for the first time in a long time, and I just fell in love with them all over again. Of course, the new season of Yuru Yuri was still being released weekly during all that Star Wars hype, and so it got me imagining in my head Star Wars with Yuru Yuri characters in the place. I couldn't get it out of my mind and I knew that I had to express it creatively at one point, fro one weirdo nerd to another, and I suck at drawing so I decided to write a fanfiction. One of the earliest fanfictions I ever read was a retelling of Pirates of the Carribean with the characters replaced fro another show, and of course, there was Super Console Wars on the internet a while back which was a retelling of Star Wars with popular video game characters, so I'm definitely not the first person to have done this and it's bringing my fandom experience full circle. There's also a big TV show that did a telling of Star Wars with their characters, but ugh, I can't remember it! Drawing a blank! Something about a fat guy and a genius baby. The Simpsons! That was it!

So, there is no reason Yuru: Star Wars: Yuri has to be told at all, but I'm about to end my long time project Rum Raisin soon, and I just want to follow it with something weird, nerdy, and stupid, but also light-hearted and fun. I am enjoying writing it so far and I hope you all enjoy reading it as well. If you ever felt Star Wars needed more yuri and schoolgirls, then finally there is a Star Wars for you! Please leave a comment if you do like it, and please favorite and follow this story and me.

Thank you for your support. And may the force and the power of lesbian love and friendship be with you!

\- M.M.R.Q.


	4. Hima in the Desert

Hima 3-P0 groaned as she forced herself through the high, hot, and merciless sands of the vast desert. The winds kept whipping up into her face, blurring her sensors and stiffening her joints. She could feel the sand filling her crevices. Hima was designed to be a civilized droid; she wasn't built to contend with the natural elements. It wouldn't take long, perhaps a couple of days, until the grains penetrated her plating altogether and started interfering with her circuitry. Then, she would be in major, fatal trouble. She would deactivate, for a couple weeks, maybe a few months, she could be repairable as long as her backup hard-drive was rebooted. But given the grand scale of this desert and the apparent lack of significant population, chances of her discovery were slim to negligible. After a couple of months, even her backup hard-drive will become too worn by the elements to be saved; a permanent deactivation as the humans call it, or as droids prefer - death.

As she traced another of an infinite series of dunes, she saw some hulking masses protruding out of the desert. As she continued to walk alongside it, she could see what amounted to a giant spinal column, a series of spikey plates and shoulders, a gigantic rib cage, and at the end, a giant skull of some once hulking reptilian beast. This thing was colossal in its life, and it was eventually consumed by the very desert that was its home. If this native inhabitant couldn't meet the challenge, then she had no hope.

Hima-3P0 distracted herself from the problem in her traditional manner - by blaming the source of all her troubles. "That idiot, Saku-chan!" she said aloud, "She _tricked me_ into going this way! But she'll fare no better!" The complaining sure helped to alleviate some of her stress, but not all of it, and it certainly didn't provide any real solution to her problem.

"This is it! This is really it!" she muttered, "I'm done for! I'm-" but before Hima-3P0 could surrender her last vestige of hope, she saw something over the horizon. A blinking, white light. Upon closer inspection, it was a metallic eye of some kind with a glass lens, possibly a periscope of some kind!

"Is that...oh, yes! Yes it is! A transport! I'm saved!" exclaimed Hima as she raised her hands up. Doing her best to fight the stiffness, she raised her hands and waved as frantically as she could. "Over here!" she yelled. "Help! Over here!"


	5. Saku's Capture and the Sandcrawler

Dusk had fallen by the time Saku-D2 left the Dune Sea and cruised slowly into a rocky valley. She was certain her destination was not much further. To raise her spirits, she sang to herself, "On a secret mission! On a secret mission! The fate of the galaxy is in my body!" God help us all.

Saku continued this until she expended the limits of her vocabulary, and then settled on simply humming the childish melody to herself, devoid of any sort of rhythm. But she was disturbed by the shuffling of rock and gravel. "Eh?" Saku said as she revolved her head to check the direction of the noise. She saw nothing. "Um, the wind did it!" She assured herself, even though her barometric instruments were registering calm atmospheric conditions. She did not let it disturb her pace. She moved on, still humming, but this time more quietly and nervously. "Gotta save the galaxy! This is a job for Saku-D2-chan-man! Doo da doo da doooo!" she chimed. Again, there was the sound of shuffling gravel. She looked again, and this time she swore she saw two robed heads duck down to hide behind some rock. "Gah!" Saku-D2 exlcaimed. "Okay, let's get out of here fast!" But Saku-D2 was going as fast as she can. She could go no faster. A couple of rocks slid down the walls and landed right beside her. "Agh!' she diverted her direction slightly, still trying to high-tail it.

"Okay!" She said, "There's the exit! I'm saved!" she said as she saw the other side of the crevice coming into view. She rolled towards it. Just when she was in the clear; however, some thing popped out from a large stone - a hooded figure. Saku couldn't reverse, it was too late. The hooded figure whipped out a small cannon and blasted Saku-D2 with a bolt of electricity. "Waaaaaawwwwwwooooggghhhhh!" Saku-D2 exclaimed as the electricity traversed through her circuits, overloading them forcing her to power down.

"Geh geh deh, bleh bo boo beeep!" she let out one last chime, before she fell over backwards onto the ground with a thud.

Two other smaller figures emerged from behind from their positions and joined their companion to investigate their work. The gunman kicked Saku to make sure she was unconscious. There was a thud and that was all. Confident, she called out her companions from their hiding places.

"Kaede! Mari!" leader said, "grab the other end! We'll raise together!" The other two nodded, "Yes Hanako-chan!" With their combined effort, they were able to lift the droid, albieit with some difficulty at first, and carry it out of the canyon.

"Geez!" The Hanako Loli exclaimed, "This droid must eat a lot because it weighs a ton."

"Hey!" Saku exclaimed. "That's not necessary!"

"You're supposed to be unconscious!"

"Oh, right. Sorry!"

They made progress back out into the Dune Sea, where their sand crawler was waiting for them. As they approached their giant sandship - a gigantic, rectangular complex, they plopped the helpless Saku down by the entrance. Two more lolis, Hanako's friends from Oomuroke respectively, came out of the sand crawler to help them. They had to work fast now. The sun was setting ever faster and it was twilight now. They didn't want to run the risk of a nighttime ambush by a rival faction.

"Come on! Lower the tube! Easy does it!" Hanako said as a tube descended from the side of the sand crawler and extended its way down towards Saku-D2. "Easy does it! And now!" Hanako signalled to the driver up in the cock pit, she pressed the button and Saku-D2 was sucked up the tube and into the heart of the beast.

"Good! Good! Let's get out of here!" Hanako said as the other lolis and herself ran into the hangar. The driver closed the hangar door behind them, heated up the engine, and directed the massive beast gradually through the Dune Sea.

* * *

Saku-D2 wheered and wizzed as she rebooted herself. "Ooohhhh, beeepppp," she chimed. "My freakin' head! "What happened?" She scanned the room and found herself in a darkened space, some sort of large cargo bay, filled with droids."Eh," Saku said as she locked lens with some strange, bug-headed, chrome protocal droid of some kind, although why someone would construct a protocol droid so heinously ugly eluded here. It chirped some sort of coded language, but Saku-D2 could not translate it. It was far from being the only droid in there - there were plenty, and each with their own esoteric purpose that Saku-D2 could never discern if she had to spend a lifetime on this barge. There was a walking dust-bin, some sort of wheeled spider droid, a beaten-up R5 unit, and a number of peculiar and indescribable things.

"Hey," Saku beeped to a small humanoid droid next to her. He had a spherical, white head, with a pair of neon blue eyes. It was made with a permanent melancholic depression on its face, and she was soon to discover the personality would match. "Hey!" she chirped again, "Friend, where are we?"

It faced Saku-D2 with its sullen expression. "You don't have to call me, friend! I know that you don't want anything to do with me!"

"Eh?" Saku replied, "What do you mean? I clearly asked you a question!"

"Yes," the droid replied, "but if you DIDN'T have a question, would you have interacted with me?"

"What? Look, all I want to know is where I am."

She went completely ignored by her fellow droid. "You didn't even ask me my name first! Just went right into your questioning! Started with what _YOU_ needed. Never had any consideration for me. Not that it matters all that much…"

"Jeez! Alright! What's your name?"

"Marvin," the droid replied, "I'm a chronically depressed droid."

"Ehhhh….why are you depressed?"

"Not that you really care, but I was simply programmed this way."

"Who would program a droid to be chronically depressed?"

"Beats me. Perhaps my inventors were simply cruel, and desired to see me suffer."

Saku flinched in both irritation and concern for her own welfare. "Ah, I see," she said to simply be polite. "So, can you tell me where we are now."

"Don't know."

Saku grimaced. She would face-palm if she had the necessary limbs to do so. "Well, thanks a lot!"

"You're being sarcastic."

"You're damn right I am!" she chirped loudly.

"Wait? Saku-D2!" she heard a familiar voice ring out of the darkness. "Eh!? Hima-chan?"

"I suppose you're going to leave now, and abandon me like all the others-"

Saku said nothing as she rolled as quickly as she could away from him. 'Weirdo!' she thought, 'Hell, even with her faults, Hima-chan beats the hell outta him for company!'

"Saku!" speaking of her friend. Saku rolled towards her friend, resting in the wreckage. Hima-3P0 yelled exuberantly as she waved to her to come on over. "Saku-D2! It is you!"

"Heh heh heh!" Saku laughed at her old friend. "Stupid Hima-chan! Left you alone for not even a DAY, and you go and get yourself captured!"

And that was about the extent of joy for their reunion expended as their relationship resumed right where they departed. "I got myself captured!? I saw this barge and I waved for help! It's not my fault they turned out to be droid-sellers!"

"Sure," Saku shrugged it off smugly, "Sure, Hima-chan, you tell yourself that!"

"Anyway," Hima-3P0 huffed, "how do you account for _YOU_ being here!? I bet _you're_ the one who got captured!"

"Eh, no," Saku lied. "This is all part of my plan!"

"You lie!" Hima-3P0 scoffed, "I bet they even managed to sneak up on you while you were being careless and zap you with an ion cannon!"

Saku grimaced once again as her friend hit close to home. "Well," she fired back, "at least my breast-plates don't reflect sunbeams to attract the attention of droid-sellers and end up getting me captured!"

"We got captured separately, you dolt!"

Their argument could potentially have lasted all night, but it was interrupted by the sound of a large bang, followed soon after by a sudden silence and stillness. "We've stopped!" Hima-3P0 said, if for no other reason than to break the tension. All the droids remained eerily silent as they awaited their fate. Finally, the hangar door slammed open with a loud crash as the small hooded figures scurried in. They forced up several droids and proceeded to force them out of the pod bay doors by gun point. A couple came and picked up a few droids near the pair, then one of them pointed their ion cannon directly at the two of them.

"Ahhh," Hima moaned out, "Don't shoot!" she pleaded. Two more came and grabbed them and forced them up. Hima shot one quick glance at Saku. "Will this ever end?" she lamented. "Will this _ever_ end?" 

* * *

A/N:

First thing written completely and published for a few months. I decided to start off with something effortless and dumb to get back into the groove of things. So, here is the scene where R2-D2 gets captured by the Jawas and then reunited with C3P0, Yuru Yuri-style! Of course, the next scene is Luke's introduction, or rather Akari's introduction in this case, which is written already; it just needs to be proofread.

I know I didn't really have to cast anyone as the Jawas, but I decided to make them Hanako, Kaede, and Mari just for the sake adding a couple more Yuru Yuri characters in there. Just having regular Jawas seemed a waste to me, but then again this whole story and CONCEPT is a waste! Haha!

Anyway, next chapter, the protagonist debuts, so keep reading! Things are picking up!


	6. The Protagonist Enters

"Akari!" a voice said loudly from the small courtyard below, "Akari! Time to get up!"

In her bed, a young redheaded teen shifted around. Hearing the calls of her aunt, she rose up. She opened the window and looked at the long, blond haired woman below, still beautiful after years of abuse by the Great Kanto Desert. "It's time to get up and do some work, girl! The Sand Lolis are coming in today to auction off some droids!"

"Ai!" she replied gleefully as she nodded, still rubbing some of the sleep out of her eyes. "I'll be down in a minute!" She got up and dashed to the bathroom, and began brushing her teeth.

 _Hello_ , she said in a narrative-style voice in her head and to no one in particular. _My name is Akaza Akari! I am thirteen years old and I live here on the Planet Tatooine, in what we call the Great Kanto Desert. It's often romanticized as a place for lowlife bounty hunters and treasure hunters and miners to find their fortunes, but my family and I are just average moisture farmers._ _You all know what that is, so I won't bore you with it. I never knew my real parents because they died before I was born, so I live with my two aunts: Aunt Takami and Aunt Yuu. But they are both like my moms to me!_

She spit out her mouthwash, washed her face, looked into the mirror and smiled. _Today we're getting a couple of new droids in to help with the harvest season_ , she continued to narrate. She walked to her desk and pulled out a holotape. She turned it an re-watched the same ad again that she watched a thousand times. She flipped through the brochure again as dreams of great space adventures lit up her young mind. _I think with them on the farm, my aunts will finally have enough hands to help them run the farm, and then maybe I can go follow my own dream - of becoming a starship pilot._ _Since I'm thirteen years old, I'm legally an adult, which means I can get my license!_ _I haven't been able to apply because of the farm. But with these new helpers coming in, I think my aunts will let me do it!_

 _Until then_ , she finished dressing and combing her hair. She took one last look of herself in the mirror. She flashed an approving smile and an anime protagonist style pose, _let's continue to work as hard as we can!_

A/N:

Just a little footnote, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru here are represented by Auntie Takami, or Auntie-Taka, and Auntie Yuu. They are my OC mothers for Kyoko and Yui respectively from my other stories. I was originally going to cast both Nana and Rise as Akari's aunts, but I already have plans for them later in different roles, and I don't like it when characters double part.

This Akarri'n introduction here has nothing to do with Star Wars, I know. This is my own little tinkering to try and make it feel more slice-of-life-ish. I hope you like it.


	7. Auction

Hima 3P0 and Saku-D2 were forced out into the relentless desert sun once again, being driven out by gunpoint. "Stand here!" the Loli Kaede squeaked aggressively. "Roll the astromech up beside her!" she said to Mari, who nodded. And Hima-3P0 and Saku-D2 found themselves, once again and as always, doing what they were told; powerless to do anything except lie prostrate at the will of an often fickle fate. 'Still though,' Hima thought to herself, 'it could be worse, I suppose. The cottage we've been brought to looks pleasant enough.' Across from the sand-crawler, sat a brown-stoned, igloo-shaped hut, with a dug-out pit not too far behind it. In the distance, Hima could see a series of mechanical rods jutting out of the desert standing erect towards the sky, a hundred or so of them sprawled out across the homestead. Hima-3P0 felt strangely at home looking at this quaint little abode, almost as if she herself had lived there before. But she dismissed this as mere deja vu. 'I never lived her before. That's silly!'

Out of the bungalow, came two humans - an adult woman with long blonde hair, and a young, teenaged redhead, her hair kept up neatly by two buns. They both wore loose-fitting khaki shirts and pants under brown cloaks that fluttered gently in the breeze. They began to head towards the auction when a voice called out from the pit. "Oh, Akari!"

Akari dashed sprightly over to the edge of the pit. She looked down to better see her Aunt Yuu. "Yes?"

"Tell Auntie Takami that if she gets a droid, make she it speaks Weaboo!"

"Mmmm," Akari nodded with a smile, "I don't think we have much of choice given the rise in weaboos we've seen recently!" She then ran as quickly as she could back to her other aunt, who had already began inspecting the line-up.

"Too busted up….no need for one…..already have one…." She stopped briefly to scrutinize a couple of misfits bots unlike she had ever seen before - a golden one with a long bird-like beak, a saucer-shaped body with long, skinny legs, and a short gumball-shaped bot with a fitting spherical head, two limp arms dangling along the sides, and a hover skirt.

"What type of droids are you two?" asked Takami, curiously.

"Glad you asked," answered the gumball droid. "I'm Tom Servo and this here is my long-time associate, Crow!"

"Crow T. Robot, to be precise," his friend elaborated.

"Ah, of course, my apologies, my friend," Tom Servo continued, "We are riffing bots! Basically, if you have movies and watch movies, we sit there with you and mock them remorselessly throughout their whole run with witty jabs and smart remarks."

Takami glared at them. "What use is that?" She walked past the useless droids and proceeded to scan the rest.

"Well..." said Crow, "it's funny!"

"It's not funny to riff on movies, it's obnoxious!" Takami said.

"Oh yeah! Well, who asked you anyway!?" Crow practically squawked at her. Tom Servo coughed a bit to try and get his attention. "Um, Crow, buddy, don't-"

"I mean, who asked your opinion! It's not funny? YOU'RE not funny!" Takami began to walk away.

"Crow...we're, um, trying to get sold here..."

"Yeah, you walk away! We don't wanna be owned by you anyway, peasant!" crow began to spit, but he didn't produce any saliva so this was only useful as a symbolic gesture.

"No! No! Lady! We're fine! We're good!" Tom Servo pleaded hopelessly as Takami walked off to look at the other droids. "We don't have to riff! We can do other things! Oh ho ho!" he began to sob, as Crow smiled smugly.

"Yeah!" he said, "We showed her who the bosses were! Heh heh heh!"

"Agh! Dammit Crow!" Tom Servo said, shaking back and forth violently, trying to his friends with his limp arms. "I was working on a pitch to get us bought and you ruined it! You jerk!"

"I'm the jerk!? She's the jerk! I just SAVED US from a bad boss!"

"NO! NO! YOU are the jerk! Always ruining everything with your bad attitude and poor ethic! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Finally, one of the Lolis couldn't take it anymore and silence them with their remote control.

"Damn, I really wish someone _would_ buy those two stupid bots so we wouldn't have to put up with their constant bickering," she said to her mate. Her fellow Loli nodded. "Yeah, it's just too bad their absolutely useless for anything so they'll probably never be sold!"

Takami continued to walk down the long line. The leader of the pack joined her so she could be available to help out in anyway. "Ah, an astromech," she said looking at a red R5, "That's more like it! I'll take this one!" Her eyes then set on Hima-3P0. Hima couldn't help but feel a small sense of nervousness looking upon this gruffy woman. She had a hard aura about her.

"You," she addressed her as she looked up and down her curiously. It isn't so often one sees a droid of this make and caliber out here, even on the sand-crawlers. Especially on the sand-crawlers. "You look like you're designed for etiquette and protocal."

"Protocal?" Hima asked, taken temporarily back at this sudden statement. "Why, er, yes m'am! It's my primary function," she began to boast, taking pride in her work and abilities, "I am well-versed in all the customs-"

"Ah well, it's interesting seeing one of you out here," Takami cut her off, "but I have no need for a protocal droid." She looked as if she was going to walk away, but Hima-3P0, detecting an opportunity, continued to give her a pitch.

"Oh, well, of course not m'am!" she said, "Not in an environment such as this! That is why I have been programmed with-"

But the experienced farmer wasn't having it. "What I really need is a droid who understands the binary language of moisture vaporators!"

"Moisture vaporators!" Hima exclaimed. She couldn't believe her luck. She may have a ticket out of here! Fate finally seemed to be turning back around in her favor. "Why, m'am! My first job was working with load lifters, very similar to your moisture vaporators in most respects!"

Takami squinted at her, studying her curiously. Hima had her attention. "Do you speak Weaboo?"

"Of course, m'am," she said, "not really my favorite language, I must say. But I do speak it fluently, along with several thousand other languages and forms of communicat-"

"Alright, shut up! I'll take you!" Hima nodded, "Shutting up now, m'am!" She would jump for joy but for the restraints. Finally, this long nightmare was over, or so it would seem. At the very least, she was free from the merciless hold of the Lolis. Takami turned to the small creature. "I'll take her, and the red one." The small hooded creature nodded its head. "Good selection! Very nice!" Hanako said, in Loliese, of course. She barked at the others to release them.

'Wait,' Hima thought to herself, 'The red one? But then that means-' She looked toward her friend. 'S-Saku hasn't been sold! She's going to be stuck with the Lolis!'

Saku noticed her tall counterpart gawking at her. "What are you staring at!" she barked.

'Then again, maybe that won't be such a huge loss for me!' Hima said as she scoffed at her. She was beginning to remember why she separated from her in the first place.

Takami and summoned her niece. "Akari!" The redhead sprinted over to her. "Yes, Auntie-Taka!"

"I want you to have these two droids washed down and fully operational by supper!" Akari smiled and nodded, "Okay! But I did want to head down to Himatsu Station and buy a few power converters!"

"If you finish your chores, Akari!" Akari nodded understandingly. "Good girl," her aunt said. Akari patted their newly-purchased droid on the shoulder. This way, she gestured with her arms. "You two, red-kun!" The red-droid did not respond right away, instead it sat there, apparently ignoring the command. Akari looked back at him and ducked down to its level. Motioning gently, she said, "Come one, red-kun! Let's go! You don't have to be scared! This is your new home now!" It apparently worked as, slowly, the red astromech droid drifted out of the line and towards the house. Hima-3P0 began the trek, too.

"Eh?" Saku-D2 chimed, finally coming to notice what's been going on around her. "Wait? Hima-chan has been sold!? But then that means-! Hey, Hima-chan, don't go!"

Hima, hearing her, turned back to catch what really felt to be the final glimpse of her longtime friend. They locked lenses for a brief moment. "You can't leave! We only just got back together! Come BACK here, you boob-droid!" Hima tried to gasp out some sort of reply, but found she couldn't think of anything to say. One of the Lolis noticed Saku's persistent beeping, and pulled out their remote control again. "Shut up!" it yelled at it before flicking the switch, automatically silencing her. "Man, such yappy droids today!"

Hima slowly turned back around. "Sorry, Saku-chan," she whispered as she solemnly began her walk to the house. But once again, fate intervened in their favor. The R5 found itself moving more and more sluggishly until, finally, a small component of its flat head exploded. "Eh?" Akari said as he moved toward to the droid, putting her hands on its head with care. She looked into the hole. "Auntie Taka!" she yelled back towards the crawler.

Takami was just about to pay the head Loli the money. "What?"

"This R5 unit has a bad motivator! Look!" she said pointing at the newly-formed hole in its head plate.

"What?" Takami yelled. She looked down at the small creature. "What the hell are you trying to push on us, you sneaky, little-!"

"Hey! Lady! " Hanako interjected, "YOU picked the droid out! We don't make the droids! We just sell the droids!"

"Well, I'd PRESUME you would do BASIC maintenance on the fucking thing!" Takami retorted. "How hard is it to replace a fucking motivator? Even my idiot niece can do that!"

"Hey!" Akari barked back.

"Sorry, Akari, dear. It's only a figure of speech!"

Akari pouted until her new droid tapped her on the shoulder. "Um, excuse me, m'am, but I've worked with that Saku-unit over there before, and I can personally attest that she's in strong condition. A real bargain!" She put as much emphasis as possible on that last phrase.

"Auntie Taka!" Akari said back.

"Yeah?"

She pointed at Saku-D2. "What about that one?" she pointed at Hima-3P0, "She says that she's in good quality!"

Takami pointed at the droid. "What about _that_ one? Is that one good?" Hanako nodded. "Yes, miss! Absolutely mint condition." Takami nodded, "Alright! We'll take that one AT HALF THE PRICE for the trouble! Or else we can get the authorities out here-?"

"Alright, alright!" the Loli Hanako waved her down, "Discount price! We don't need to bother the jennies with this!" She ordered another Loli to release Saku as a couple others were dispatched to retrieve the dysfunctional R5!

Saku-D2 drifted over alongside Takami towards Akari and Hima, a smile on her face. Hima smiled herself, too, but tried her best to hide it as Saku came closer. "Awww! It's so nice to have two friends coming to work for us!" Akari cheered. "Come on!" she said as she turned around. "This way!"

Saku and Hima stood still and looked at each other a little bit. "Just couldn't let me out of your life, could ya, Hima-chan?" Saku grinned cockily. "Realized you needed ol' Saku-chan around after all to bail you out of trouble!'

Hima blushed a little. Crossing her arms, she turned away from her to hide it. "Just don't you ever forget this!" she barked. The two of them turned around to enter their new abode. "Just why I should stick my neck out for you is beyond me!"


	8. The Plot Awakens

Hima crossed her arms. "Just don't you forget this!" she barked. The two of them turned around to enter their new abode. "Just why I should stick my neck out for you is beyond me!"

"Ahhhhhhh!" Hima moaned in pleasure she dipped herself into the tub. "This oil bath is gonna feel so good!" she said with a grin on her face. She reclined her head back onto the edge of the tub.

"I sure hope you enjoy it!" Akari said smiling as she wiped down Saku-D2, who had her own happy grin on her face.

"You really know how to clean down a droid," Saku-D2 moaned pleasurably, unknowingly triggering a wave of fanart and doujinshis across the galaxy.

"My counterpart there said that you really know your stuff about taking care of droids," Hima translated her whirrs and beeps for her new master.

"Thanks," Akari shot her a smile. "We've had a lot of droid helpers over the years. And I've taken care of them all!"

"I apologize if I am being impertinent," Hima said in advance, and meant it although she already felt that she could be open and direct with Akari, more so than with most masters, "but are you our new master's daughter?"

Akari nodded, "It's alright. Yes I am ... well, in a way!" she explained as she continued to clean Saku. "Y'see, my mother and my older sister both died when I was still a baby. My Auntie-Taka and Auntie-Yuu were my mother's best friends growing up, so they raised me as if I were their own."

"Ah, I see," said Hima. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"There's nothing to be sorry for. I love Auntie-Taka and Auntie-Yuu! They took really great care of me and they gave me a great life!"

"How did they die, if it's not a rude question? You're mother and your sister, I mean?"

"Some sort of freighter collision from what I heard. Happened in space so there were no bodies to bury. You don't have to worry! I don't remember them, so it's not too personal, and my aunts have been great mother-figures to me!"

"Well, I'm happy to hear that," Hima said sincerely. "But where are my manners!" she said, embarrassed at having forgotten her primary function. "My name is Hima-3P0; human-cyborg relations! And that there is my counterpart, Saku-D2."

"Nice to meet you two," Akari said as she worked away at Saku-D2's shell.

"Awwwwww," Saku continued to sigh, "Believe you me, the pleasure is all mine, Akaza-san."

Akari gripped a sonic screwdriver and proceeded to buff out some of the rough patches on the droid's coat. She noticed blackened burn marks and bumps located sporadically about the casing. "Jeez, you got a lot of carbon scarring on your skin here. Looks like you girls have seen a fair deal of action."

"To be honest, given the amount of things that we've been through, it's fortunate that we are in the shape that we are!" Hima said as she rose herself out of the pool. "Especially with the rebellion and all."

"Wait, whoa!" Akari immediately dropped what she was doing and leapt to her feet, facing the golden droid while brimming with fervor. "You mean, you two are a part of the rebellion against the Empire?"

"Well, that's how we actually ended up in your service, Madame Akari!" Akari swooned a little, 'Ahhh,' she thought to herself, 'Madame Akari! It sounds so adult!' But she recomposed herself and stayed focus. She had one of those moments of insight that she gets every once in awhile. "Were you two onboard that consular ship that the Empire apprehended overhead?"

Hima nodded, "Why, yes actually. How did you know about that?"

"Well, it's all over the news, of course!" Akari replied, "The Empire said they were looking for possible escapees. I never thought they'd be droids, though."

"Yes, well," Hima coughed, "Let's hope the Empire never thinks that, either. You …. You won't inform them by any chance, will you?"

"Why, of course not! I don't care about the Empire! We all hate them around here!"

"Oh good!" sighed Hima in relief.

"Have you been in many battles?" Akari asked eagerly. She never met two bonafide freedom fighters before and the rebellion has always been something she always romanticized about taking part in. She always imagined herself a rebel squadron captain of some kind, fighting the evil, oppressive Imperial Navy, and saving countless of cities and planets from the Empress's oppression.

"Thank you, Akari! Our great hero!" they would chant. But Hima wasn't feeding into her sense of romance.

"Several, I think," Hima said, as she tried her best to recollect her experiences. "Actually, there really isn't much to tell. I'm nothing more than an interpreter, and not much for telling stories...at least not in making them interesting anyway."

"Awww, that's too bad," Akari said as she knelt back down, "I'm sure you have really good stories if you try to tell one." She resumed her work on Saku-D2. It would be dinner soon, and she wanted to finish her chores so she could go into town and buy those power converters. They had two new models that could triple her skyhopper's speed while also maintaining cruise control. She noticed a slot on the astromech's shell, and poked a knob near by. She tried to turn it, but it was jammed. 'Shouldn't do that,' she thought.

She kept poking it, causing Saku-D2 to blush. "Why, Akaza-chan…," Saku beeped, "...why we only just met! And that's so … forbidden!"

Akari, of course, didn't understand droid speech, and Hima, merely glaring at Saku-D2 thought it would be in everyone's best interests not to translate what Saku just said. So, Akari simply focused on her work.

"You've got something jammed in real tight in there, Saku-chan," she said, as she tried her best to wedge the knob loose. After applying enough force it did, but Akari was taken aback by the flash of a blue beam of light. She landed on her back and looked up, following the beam of light to the center of the room. There was a girl standing there on the floor now. It was a hologram.

"What is that?" Akari asked aloud, but everyone was too distracted by the girl's sudden appearance to pay attention. The girl was saying something.

"Help me, Yoshiwaka Tomoko. You're my only hope!"

"Help me, Yoshiwaka Tomoko. You're my only hope!" It kept repeating that one phrase over and over.

Akari looked at the hologram in awe. Hima looked at it quizzically. Saku-D2 looked at it worriedly and embarrassedly.

"What is that?" Akari asked. Saku-D2, blushing, tried to deflect the question. "Err, what's what?"

"What do you mean, 'What's what?' Saku?" Hima-3P0 asked Saku. "Go on answer her! She asked you a question! You can trust Madame Akari! She's our new mistress!"

Akari didn't heed any attention to what the droids were saying; instead she was mesmerized by the glowing, glittering hologram in front of her. "Who is she?" she asked to no one in particular.

"I don't exactly know, m'am," Hima attempted to answer. "I believe she was a passenger aboard the ship with us when we got boarded. A passenger of some importance, if I believe."

"She's beautiful!" Akari said as she looked upon the phantom girl like she had never seen another human being before. At the very least she had never seen one so beautiful, with the way her two side tail trailed downside her pale, soft face, complimented by the bright robe she wore. Her headscarf, which she recovered her face with at the end of the loop completed the mystique. And her voice, so soft and desperate, yet stong. She listened to her voice again. "She sounds like she's in trouble; whoever she is! What is this? Some sort of a distressed signal?"

"Ummm, err-" Saku desperately sought out a way to end this awkward experience. She looked up at Hima, now standing fully erect above her. "Go on," Hima instructed her. "Answer her. She's our new mistress."

Deciding that the jig was sort of up, Saku-D2 decided that she had to tell them at least something. Although it wasn't her expertise, she created a lie that she hoped would satisfy their curiosity while also maintaining the confidence of her mission. She bleep-blo-bleeped an explanation for Hima to translate.

Hima listened, and said, "She says that she's the property of a Yoshiwaka Tomoko, and that it's a private message for her," Hima-3P0 translated, but no more enlightened than Akari was. "To be honest, I have no idea what she's talking about, Madame Akari," she elaborated, "Our former mistress was Captain Takanashi. But with everything we've been through, I'm afraid that Saku-chan here has gone a bit eccentric."

"HEY!" Saku chirped. "I resent that remark!"

Akari was still mesmerized by the glowing image when she recognized the name. She looked away and thought. "Yoshiwaka Tomoko? I wonder if she means, 'Tokomo Yoshi?' Could she-?"

"You know what she's talking about, m'am?" Hima 3P0 asked curiously and confusedly.

"Well, I don't know anyone named _Tomoko_ , but ' _Tokomo_ Yoshi' lives out past the Dune Sea...she's a bit of a hermit!"

The message kept repeating the name. "Help me, Yoshiwaka Tomoko! You're my only hope!"

"Help me, Yoshiwaka Tomoko! You're my only hope!"

Leaning in closer to scrutinize the hologram, she asked, "Is there anyway to play the entire message? It's clear that this is only a snippet."

Saku began to worry a bit. She couldn't betray the confidentiality of her mission by revealing the entire message, no matter how nice or understanding her new mistress might be. BUT! It dawned on her that she could take advantage of her curiosity to bust out of her and get on with her mission. She bleeped some instructions to Hima-3P0, being especially sure to sound as genuine as possible.

"Ah, I see," Hima 3P0 said. The golden droid turned to Akari and said, "She says that the restraining bolt prohibits her from playing the full message. If you remove it, she says it may be possible!"

"Ah," Akari looked around for some magnetic bolt-removers. She located them and went over to the droid. "Well," she said as she ducked down to the droid's body. Putting the removers on the bolt, she said, "I guess you're too small to exactly run away on me now if I take this off." Her face went red as she exerted all the pressure she could on the restraining bolt popped off. The blue hologram faded away as it did.

Akari looked up with a look of disappointment and annoyance appearing on her face. "Ehh?" she said as she walked over and stood in the place where the hologram once sat. "What the-? Where did she go? Play back the entire message!" she commanded the droid.

Saku merely feigned ignorance. "What message?" she said.

"What message? What do you mean, 'What message?' you dumb bucket of bolts!" Hima-3P0 accosted her counterpart. "The message you were just playing! The one you're carrying around in your rusty innards!" She gave her another smack.

"Oww!" Saku let out. 'Seriously, Hima-chan! If I had arms!"

Akari was about to say something again, until she was interrupted by her Aunt Yuu, shouting from the courtyard. "Akari, dear!" she shouted, "It's time for supper! Come along now!"

Akari wanted to stay and try to get the message matter resolved, but she decided to shove the whole business to the side for the time being. She had dinner to eat and that meant another matter to attend to as well. She also still wanted to go and grab those power converters.

"Alright, I'm coming!" she shouted after her. She went to the door. Saku quickly chirped something to Hima to translate for her.

"Ah, sorry, Madame Akari," Hima relayed the message to her, "She says that that message and the whole Tomoko stuff were just old data that was triggered by all the excitement of the day's' events, and that they're nothing to take too seriously."

Saku bleeped in the affirmative. Akari looked at them, and nodded. "Okay," she said as she smiled, "I'll see you two later. Get settled in and enjoy yourself, okay?" She bowed to them as she turned and left the room.

"Okay, thank you, m'am," Hima said after her. Once Akari was out of the room, she turned around to scold Saku. "Just you _think_ about playing that message for her!" she demanded.

"Do you think she doesn't like me for all the hassle?" Saku asked.

Hima scoffed smugly. She towered over her. "No, I don't think she likes you much at all!"

"Awwww," Saku whirred sadly as she dropped her head. "But we're still best friends, right?" she raised her head back up optimistically.

"Nope," Hima replied, "I don't like you either!"

"Oh, you lie!"

"It's true!"

* * *

Akari walked across the courtyard to the dining room where she found her two aunts there waiting for her. Takami was already sitting down at the table while Aunt Yuu put down the remaining food and drinks. Akari took her seat at the side of the table. Akari briefly reflected on all of the recent events, and wondered what, if anything, she should tell her aunts. On the one hand, they were the legal owners' of the droids and thus they had precedent to know what was going on. But, at the same time, her aunts didn't really have the same sense curiosity about things that she did, and her Aunt Takami especially. At least, none that was so overt as to interfere with productivity. If she knew about the message, she would most likely go and delete the message herself, and then that would kill the entire mystery. Akari struggled between her love for a good mystery and sense of adventure and her love for her aunts. She was still in this struggle when her Aunt Yuu sat down near her.

"Are you alright, Akari-chan?"

"Eh?" Akari sighed as she was disturbed from her thought. She looked across to her aunt. "Oh, yes! I'm fine! Hehe!" she chuckled. "I'm fine! Just a long day!"

"You get those droids cleaned and ready?" her Aunt Takami asked in between bites.

"Oh, yes! I did! I think they are going to make great hands on the farm!" Akari said enthusiastically.

Takami smiled. Still eating, she said, "Yes, I think so, too."

Akari again began to wonder again. She knew she had to say something; she couldn't not tell them that their droids might be fugitives. But still, Akari didn't want to surrender the entire romance of it all. She decided to just let out a little bit.

"You know, I think those droids might be stolen, though?" Akari said, beginning to take a bite of her banta stew, studying her aunt's face as she did so.

"Oh," the experienced farmer said, her face remaining stoic, "What makes you say that?"

"Well, I came across some old data while cleaning that Saku-unit. A message of some sort. I asked her about it, and she said that she was the property of one Yoshiwaka Tomoko."

That name. Both Takami and Yuu gave each other a less-than-subtle look upon hearing it. They looked at each other as if Akari had mentioned some exiled criminal; some menace that was long thought dead, but that even uttering the very name could evoke their ghost to return and terrorize again. Fortunately Akari was looking down at her stew at the time and missed their glance, otherwise she would have clearly seen that they knew something about this. They both resumed stoic faces as their niece returned her attention from her stew.

"Yeah, and I was wondering if she meant Tomoko Yoshi?" Akari looked back towards her aunt. "Do you have any idea what she's talking about?"

"Now, that witch is just a weird college-aged adult!" Takami said.

"Yeah, but maybe she knows her. Maybe they are relatives or something."

"I doubt it," Takami attempted to dissuade her. "Yoshiwaka Tomoko isn't around anymore…..She died about the same time as your sister."

This attempt to dissuade her niece clearly failed. "Oh, so you do know her? She knew my sister?"

"Enough," Takami said, not angrily, but rather a slightly irritated tone. "Yes, there was a Yoshiwaka Tomoko, but that's ancient history and has nothing to do with you."

"Tomorrow," she continued, "I want you to take those two droids into town and have their memories erased, and that'll be the end of it. Sure, maybe the droids weren't exactly picked up by the Jawas on the most honest of circumstances...but that's life out here! The droids belong to us now, and that's the end of it!"

Akari was still rather curious, but she loved her aunt enough to know that that was the end of the discussion. And while it irritated her slightly that she wouldn't talk about it or anything related to her sister or her mother or anything, she loved and respected her enough to keep her feelings to herself. Besides, the past wasn't all that important anyway, so she shrugged. It was the future that counted more than anything, and Akari remembered what she really wanted to discuss at the table this evening.

"Well," she said, "I think those droids are going to work out fine," she said in between a few bites of the stew. She drank a cup of blue milk and said, "And, actually, it, um, got me thinking of the arrangement we made." Akari gulped down some more blue milk as she looked around the table. "And if the new hands work out, I'd like to file my application to join the flight academy this year!"

Takami was about to bite into her next piece of banta meat, but stopped for a moment. Akari looked towards her Aunt Yuu who was smiling back at her in support. Akari wasn't worried about Aunt Yuu, though. Aunt Yuu would be happy with any decisions that she made. It was Aunt Takamia that she had to convince.

"This year?" Takami said after swallowing her bite. "So, close to the harvest season?"

"Well, sure," Akari replied. "We have more than enough droids, Aunt-Taka. And the earlier I go to the academy and get licensed, the earlier I can start flying!"

"Harvest is when I need you the most, though, Akari," Takami replied. "Just stay this year and help out. This year, we'll have enough water to sell off and make a surplus profit. I'll have enough to hire a few more hands…..and you can send off your application to join the flight academy next year!"

"But-," Akari let out disappointedly, "-but it's a whole other year! The longer I stay, the longer it'll take for me to seriously train and develop my skills!"

"And besides," Akari said, "I'm thirteen now! I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions and have the right to make my own choices!"

"Yes," Takami replied, "Legally that is true. But I need you, Akari! Times are tough now, but we will have more than enough this year. And I'll even put some of the profit we get toward your tuition. Now, how about that?"

Akari looked down at her stew defeated and prodded it with her chopstick. She felt a mixture of many emotions: anger, sadness, and most of all disappointment. She desperately wanted and hoped for her aunt's approval even if she knew beforehand she wasn't going to get it. Once Aunt Takami decided on anything she always stubbornly kept to it, no matter how unnecessary it might be. Yes, Akari's help would ease the process of harvest, but the result would ultimately be the same with or without her here. There were more than enough droids now. But she still felt torn, for as much as she wanted to go off on her own, she couldn't abandon her aunts or contradict their wishes after everything they've done for her. They were both her parents in almost every sense of the word.

"Okay," was all Akari said. "I understand." Akari stood up and bowed. "Aunt Yuu," she asked, "can I be excused from dinner? I'm not very hungry anymore and I'd like to get to town before the station closes."

"Oh, well, of course, Akari-chan!" Yuu replied. Akari bowed to them both, took her plate to refrigerate before she left the cabin.

There was a short period of silence between the couple after Akari's departure. "Don't you think that maybe you could change your mind about letting her go to the academy, dear? We have enough to get by."

"Next year, if she stays, we'll have even more. And we can live more comfortably."

Yuu sighed. "Taka-chan, Akari can't stay here forever; most of her friends have already gone. Can you just think about reconsidering, please? It means so much to her."

Takami looked across to her wife. "I know, I know. I'll make it up to her next year. I promise."

Yuu chuckled. She knew her wife was being honest but she could detect that Takami hoped Akari would change her mind by next year and decide to remain on the farm permanently. She had mentioned such things to her in the past, said it would be safer for her that way. She believed her, too. As much as Yuu wished Akari would stay here forever with them, though, she had enough intuition to know that that could not be and would not be. Akari had such latent talents that would be wasted here. She was a great driver and from the small tests she did at the spaceport, she had all the potential to be a brilliant pilot, too. Akari's destiny clearly did not settle itself around the moisture vaporators that scattered the landscape of their humble homestead.

"You can't keep Akari here forever no matter how much you may want her to, Taka-chan," she said. "She's just not a farmer. She's got too much of her sister and her mother in her."

And it was that line that did it, stopped the dinner cold. Yuu could see into her dear wife's eyes ad she saw the signs of tearing, and knew she hit a sensitive mark. It was a sensitive area for herself, too. Takami looked up at her, and with dewy eyes said, "That's what I'm so afraid of."

Looking back down through the table and into a simpler time, she repeated with a faint sob, "That's what I'm so afraid of."

With all mentioned at the table tonight, it's no wonder, Takami was in such a mood. Everything just kept building and building on top of each other. Yuu leff her seat and went over to the other side of the table to hug her. She kissed her on her cheek, and Takami, unable to take it anymore, fell onto her chest and deep into her embrace. She sobbed a little. Yuu, her eyes moist now, too, caressed her and comforted her.

"I miss her, too," she whispered, "I miss her, too."

* * *

Akari returned from town, with just enough time before dark. It was sunset now, and if she were out anytime longer, she could've really been in trouble. The desert was no safe place to be at night. She deactivated the car in the garage and walked back out into the ever-darkening wastes. She looked back at the crimson sky above the vast expanse of desert. Her planet always had such beautiful sunsets with its two suns and four moons; two of which were visible now. She walked over the ledge of the pit and leaned down to stare at it and take in the beauty of it for awhile. She was calmer now. Still a bit cross and disappointed, but calmer. It was impossible not to be with such serenic beauty like this around her. She sat down, watched the suns as they danced down below the horizon.

"One day…," she said to the suns and the moons as if she were making them a promise. "One day…." She didn't know what she meant by it. The suns didn't seem to care as they dipped below the horizon, doing what they always did naturally. Akari hoped she would get the same chance herself one day.


End file.
